Saturday, August 25, 2012

Rainbow Crown Tutorial

I have made a few of these Waldorf rainbow crowns now for Birthdays and as gifts, and I have been asked a few times if I would share how I make them. So here we go (Su this is especially for you).

First fold an A4 piece of paper in half and draw one half of what you would like your crown to look like. The middle point of the crown will be at the fold of the paper.

Cut it out and this will be your pattern.

Next measure a piece of white wool felt. This is only a rough size and don't cut the points yet as it is easier to paint the rainbow colours onto a block of fabric.

Next you will need water based paints/ water colour pencils in a rainbow of colours. I use these pencils. They are our very favourite in our house and we use them for so much. They give a beautiful vibrant colour and are easy to use and wash off furniture, walls and people really well ;-P

Starting with red at the top draw/ paint your rainbow. Before you begin have a rough idea of how wide each colour will be so that you don't have a mostly red and orange crown with no space left for blue and purple at the bottom. Note that if you are using a water colour pencil the fabric may stretch some so be gentle. It is better to go over it many times than rip the felt.

Try to make the colour as strong as possible because it will fade when dried.

Using a paintbrush and water go over your colours and allow one stripe of colour to gently bleed into the one below. At the end of each brush stroke wash your brush in clean water to keep the colour pure.

When you are happy with the look of your rainbow lie it flat somewhere safe and let it dry naturally. This may take a couple of days.

When the felt is completely dry place your crown pattern over the top and trim around it.

Now you have the shape of your beautiful rainbow crown. At this point you can add or embroider any decorations Perhaps your child's name, their age, some starts? Whatever you fancy or you can keep it a simple rainbow.

Next pin the crown into another layer of felt. I used white again but you can use any colour. Cut around your crown as tightly as possible to the edge. The thickness of 2 layers of felt will help it hold it's shape and sit up on your child's head rather than flop over.

Measure a length of elastic. I tend to use about 15 cm, so that there is some allowance for sewing it in and also so that it will grow with your child. You can always tie a knot in the back of it while the head is small to make it fit more securely. At each end of the crown pin in the elastic between the two layers of felt.

Using blanket stitch and coloured embroidery thread go around the outside of your crown stitching the two layers of felt together.

At the elastic on each side add a couple of extra stitches to hold it very firmly in place.

Now you have a beautiful rainbow crown.

Happy crafting :-)

Please note that all of these instructions are my own and I ask you to link back to me here if you should choose to share them. Also these crowns cannot be washed or even spot washed as the colour is not water tight.

14 comments:

I have to complement you on the clarity of your instructions and the pictures to go with. You pointed out potential pit-falls like color before cutting points and keeping the brush clean - great reminders for people who do not work with these materials often. Not to mention - what a great project! Thank you for sharing the inspiration!

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About Me

My name is Laura. I am a stay at home mummy to Rebe, Benny and Joa. I live in a gorgeous little fishing village in South West Ireland. We are into home cooking, gardening, crafting, knitting and living as naturally as possible.